Her father was a Union Navy veteran of the American Civil War, who later worked as a porter and waiter; her mother was in domestic service.

[1] Thompson did clerical and bookkeeping work at the Arapahoe County treasurer's office as a young woman.

[3] She was a member of the Women's Civic and Protective League, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Colored Division of the Los Angeles branch of the California War History Committee.

[5][6] During this time Thompson was also an advocate for women's suffrage and education for the African-American community, and worked with Eva Carter Buckner, Vada Somerville, Sadie Chandler Cole, and Charlotta Bass in these efforts.

She was there a short time before she married Samuel William Thompson, who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad.